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Dear Tom Cho

I was delighted to be invited to contribute to the Dear Author series on Stilts.
The Dear Author series reviews reading events through the lens of a letter to the artist -and it's been one of the most enjoyable reviewing experiences I've had.I humbly submit to you my first Dear Author, to the ridiculously talented Tom Cho, first published at StiltsOnline on 12 November 2012.

Cover of Look Who's Morphing

Dear Tom Cho,I was headed to Greystone Bar for a reading salon courtesy of
BWF. I was keen to hear the David Unaipon winner, and see Christian
Lander. I was going to tell him no, not all white people like
Frisbee sports or shorts or unpaid internships or modern furniture,
but yes, I do like writer appearances and musical comedy and
breakfast places, so perhaps the argument was moot.

I had only recently heard your name. I'd seen your book in the
bookstore, a striking portraiture with splashes of neon amongst the
obscure and poetic anthology covers. I was thinking about buying it
simply to see the fluro green on my bookshelf.

You took the mic, reserved and considered - and you slapped me in
the face.

You didn't read: you exuded, you embodied and enlivened. It was
short fiction, but not as I had ever heard it. You read three
pieces, each a dance, a fight, a display of lyricism and humour.
Each word was delivered in an explosion of imagery. You painted
ninjas and explosions and robots, and in the same strokes sketched
love and loss and heartache and heartbreak. And each word was a
weapon and an invitation, and we all sat spellbound,
speechless.

And after, you were humble and unassuming and I thought, yes, this
is a reading.

And then Christian Lander read some stuff and it was funny and I
laughed, but I couldn't tell you what he read.

So thank you Tom Cho, for giving me ninjas and explosions and
robots, and a neon green spine on my bookshelf.